Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Most authors’ journeys to publication are a long,
winding, rocky road.I know

mine
was.Therefore we have a love/hate
relationship with writing because the journey to finishing the book is just as
difficult as publishing it.Anyone who
gets published must have a good amount of grit, guts and tenacity.

We start off writing as children because it’s fun,
little knowing where the road will take us.For some the road is a short one and ends when life becomes busy.But there are those of us who have stories
running through our heads at the strangest times.A few of those stories become imbedded in our
brain where they grow and grow and grow until they are screaming to get
out.Really, to a certain degree, we
have no choice but to be a writer.We
HAVE to tell those stories so they will just SHUT UP.

My first full-length novel was that way, and it is
still a work in progress that I am determined will be published someday.My debut, Her Man From Shilo was a story that
started with a dream.I wrote about half
a chapter before life (read children, etc. here) got in
the way of my being able to write for quite a while.It didn’t stop Daimee and Raff from telling me
their story though.For over a decade I
imagined them in different scenes until life gave me a chance to get it out of
my head and onto virtual paper.Since it
was in my head so long, it will most likely be the easiest (relatively speaking
of course) book I’ve ever written.

After
receiving such positive feedback from those who read it, including some people
I didn’t know, I decided to put my toe back in the ‘let’s-get-published’ sea.It wasn’t my first foray into these deep,
dark, scary waters, so I was familiar with the sting of rejection and willing
to take the risk again.Which helps you
appreciate the kind of breed we authors are.We are willing to take a painful shot to the heart when a publisher
tells us they don’t want our book and throw ourselves back in the
shark-infested waters ready to get chewed up again.I wanted to be published by Harlequin SO BAD
I was willing to put myself out there again and again.And willing to wait an eternity to get those
rejection letters.And willing to rewrite,
rework, redo my story until one glorious day I got a letter from Kate Cuthbert
at Harlequin Escape that said ‘We would like to publish your book’.We writers may live a lot of our life in our
imaginations, but we are tougher than you think on the inside.

***

Her Knight In Shining Armour

She may not need a knight in shining
armour to save her, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to look a gift knight in
the visor...

Paisley doesn’t need a knight in shining
armour to rescue her from her high-powered, abusive ex-husband. She’s got it
covered on her own: she's changed her name, liquidated her assets, and has a
plan to disappear in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Psychiatrist Sterling James has absolutely
no intention of being anyone’s saviour. The only woman he has any time for is
his sister. But circumstances change when Sterling finds Paisley in an
unexpected and life-threatening situation. Brought in to the drama of her
escape, Sterling finds himself invested, and he can't move on until he knows
Paisley is going to be safe. It should be a simple enough exercise to
get Paisley out of the park and into her new life. But nothing is ever as
simple as it should be, and Sterling soon discovers that even if her ex-husband
buys the set-up, he might not be able to watch Paisley go...

Robyn Rychards grew up in the granola bowl
of the United States, Boulder Colorado, a town filled with fruits, flakes and
nuts. She considers herself a Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none and has taught
herself to sew, paint, play the piano, garden, cook, the list goes on. But now
that her books are published, she’s thrilled to finally be considered a master
of one. At least as much as a person can be, for the learning never really
stops.

She feels her active imagination is a
blessing and a curse, with the blessing far outweighing the curse since it has
led her to fulfil her dream of writing for Harlequin. Robyn started writing
stories when she was a teenager because she didn’t have enough books to read.
Sometimes she finds it hard to believe that people are willing to pay her to do
something she enjoys so much, but mostly she’s happy to have such a wonderful
excuse not to cook and clean. And a job that means you can stay in your jammies
as long as you want?Priceless.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The lovely Tara Watson over at Feel of Something New is hosting The Self Lovin' Bloghop all this week (so there's still time to sign up if you'd like to join in!).

Tara's asking us to share something we're good at. It's SO easy to focus on the negatives and Tara wants us to do the opposite and give ourselves a little boost. Great idea!

So, what am I good at? ACK!

Okay. I think one of my strengths is creating likable (but not perfect!) characters people enjoy reading about. I've received good feedback from crit buddies and agents on my characters and I like spending time with them so that's got to be worth something!

Friday, March 14, 2014

I'm over at From the Write Angle today talking about the Non-Autobiographical You. Sounds weird, I know, but if you pop on over, you'll see what I'm talking about!

I've never used a real event from my life in my writing and I doubt I ever will. So far I haven't even taken a real event and twisted it.

My life isn't great fodder for fiction. Thankfully! I don't want or need to live a life where I suffer like Main Characters always seem to do!

But if I had to take one event and use it, it might be my tendency to use swing sets a little differently as a kid. Sure I liked to swing and jump off like everyone else, but I also liked to shinny up the poles and hang upside down from my knees off the top bar. The most fun though was shinnying up to the top and then walking along the top bar as if it was a beam.

Might be a fun scene if I ever decide to write one of those MG ideas spinning around in my head!

How about you - what's something you've done that would make a great scene in a novel?

Monday, March 10, 2014

For this year's festivities, participants are asked to look at both sides of science and technology. How has one aspect enhanced humanity and how has another (or the same) caused us trouble.

So many to choose from!!!

One of my favourite technological advances is portable music! From the good old Walkman back in the day to the numerous iPod versions, it has made life better. Sure I could be talking about vaccines and adaptive devices and artificial limbs and other serious topics, but I LOVE having my music with me. It makes working out livable and walking so much more enjoyable! On a more serious side, the technology has also made it SO much easier for kids who live kind of on the fringes at lunches and recesses. Some kids find it incredibly difficult to find friends to hang out with at these times and the technology has helped them. Not only do they appear busy and like they're choosing to be alone but they have something to focus on other than their solitude. That's a huge plus in my book!

On the down side, I generally find it's not the technology or the science itself that causes humankind problems, but the humans who choose to abuse it. There seems to be a need to turn almost everything into a weapon of some kind. Chemical warfare and biological agents are some of the most terrifying we've managed to create. The most insidious are probably the recreational drugs that cause so much damage. While some may not agree that these are weapons, I would show as evidence the kids with the damaged psyches, injured brains & bodies, and irreparably broken hearts I've met over the years. Weapons indeed.

For other entries in the blogfest, click on the 3 links at the top of this post. Good luck to Stephen with Escalation - his 3rd book in the Chase Manhatten series! You'll love his use of wormholes in these books!!